Britain could block a sale of the JF-17 jet made by the Chinese in collaboration with Pakistan due to an ongoing embargo ever since the 1982 Falklands war.
Britain has had an arms embargo on Argentina for nearly 40 years now, ever since a 10-week undeclared war between the two sides in 1982, popularly known as the Falklands war.
Britain had already vetoed a sale of 12 South-Korean TA-50 light fighter jets to the country, citing the Falkland war as the reason. The reason Britain was able to do this is that the TA-50s contained British-made components.
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After the veto, a delegation from China’s CATIC (China National Aero-technology Import & Export Corp) visited Buenos Aires on May 8th. The corporation manufactures many components of the JF-17 and assembles them in Pakistan. A deal for 12 jets was agreed upon.
However, the British company Martin-Baker supplies the PK16LE ejection seats for the JF-17. When a Pakistani JF-17 crashed on September 5th, 2020, the pilot safely ejected away from the crash. The company announced, “This marks the first JF-17 ejection, an aircraft that’s fitted with Martin-Baker PK16LE ejection seats.”